Editing within cinema is a ploy that the film and visual media industries use to better capture a story on screen. Editing is a compilation of multiple shots and scenes that are blended together in a homogenous way, it is essentially inseparable. Typically, when watching a film or animation of today, we have been more than likely to watch a series of shots with entirely different characters and locations, and have never felt a disruption to the flow or continuity of the story. This is because editing should remain invisible to the naked eye, editing should be seamless and should not be something that we are consciously aware of as we are taken across a journey.
The purpose of editing is about understanding the progression of a story and how it develops, but also for ensuring that the narrative is as clear as possible so that the immersion can be amplified and not broken down, such as intermissions within a theatre. In theatre, we can be told the same story with set and character changes, as well as a large use of stage design and prop use. However, this immersion is generally broken midway through the typical intermission. The cast has reset their personalities with breaks, and the viewer’s brains have unwound with the setting of a new act. The start of a new act has multiple ways of being used, such as being a clear indicator of a time skip of some form or a location change. Which is a form of stage editing compared to cinema and film. However, because it is not as fluid as a film which is a seamless transition from one scene to another, it allows for multiple scenes to develop separate feelings and emotions simultaneously.
Part of film and editing is to not let the audience do too much work, but of course not letting them do too little neither. It’s a fine balance of push and pull within storytelling that allows the viewers to fill in certain gaps, whilst being led down a linear path where they cannot see the end. The audience is a part of this journey, the audience, as well as the director, have concerns and attachments towards these characters. We are not just a spectator to the story at hand, therefore we should be allowed to go through the same journey as the characters by living through them vicariously.
Developing a storyboard and surrounding ideas has a lot of planning, and takes people across a journey that can only be exploited or manipulated once you’ve learned the key fundamentals of narration and editing. The viewer’s journey is the most important, and to get the viewer to come along the journey, you need to maintain continuity. The idea of continuity is not only by story dialogue and the characters personal development but rather by how you visualise or express this notion through the power of composition and screen development. Screen composition and development is only brought to life if you understand the idea of spatial, temporal, continual editing (but not limited to). Being able to draw out time to depict emotion, or being able to express the personality with eye line and transitions through aggressive jump cuts or fast hand-held pans can be a prime example of this development in narrative.
A great example of continuity editing can be in the sequence of Shrek where Donkey confronts Shrek over the right moral choice, causing a visual dispute that camera and editing both play a huge part. There are large implications of graphic relations, where we can see the characters Shrek and Fiona eating across from another on a dinner table, showing that they’re eating together in a state of sorrowful emotion, but in reality, they’re in two different places unaware of the others feelings. Through this graphic matching, we as the viewer can build a relationship through both understanding the similarly shared feelings both characters have, making them feel unified through actions displayed on the screen. However, we also understand that these characters have been isolated by choice, making us, the viewers build a deeper feeling towards the two, looking for some form of a kindled relationship waiting to begin once again.